Commentary: 'Tis the season to go bowling

After months of battling and games both boring and exciting, college football has wrapped up its regular season. That means the bowl season is upon us.

by Matt Cabanmatthew.caban@news-star.com@matt_NewsStar

After months of battling and games both boring and exciting, college football has wrapped up its regular season. That means the bowl season is upon us.
This season there are 35 bowl games scheduled between college teams from across the country. The entire list of bowl games appears in the Scoreboard on 2B.
On Sunday, my wife, Shaye, and I attempted to watch ESPN's coverage of the bowl game announcements.
I say attempted because three hours of coverage is a really long time and we had some recorded shows to catch up on.
We are both college football fans; she roots for her alma mater, OU, and I, the UCO alum, objectively enjoying higher-level college football.
Wait, did I say objective? I realize it's my job to be impartial, but part of me thinks if you are not rooting for someone then why are you watching?
Anyway, back to the bowl games. Following the crazy ending to last Saturday's Bedlam bonanza, both OU and OSU found out about their postseason travel plans Sunday night.
Thankfully, both teams look headed to games worth watching. But before I jump into those match-ups, I want to take a look at some other things that stuck from the list of nearly three-dozen bowls.
At first glance, I thought there were too many bowls. I mean we are talking about 70 teams facing off in 35 games.
The first bowl will be the Gildan New Mexico Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 21 between Washington Sate and Colorado State. The last bowl is the BCS National Championship on Monday, Jan. 6.
That's an average of almost two bowls per day for 17 days.
Now, I enjoy watching football, but that is a lot of football.
However, a little research shows there are currently 120 members of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). FBS is the fancy name for NCAA Division I.
More research shows another five school will join the FBS in the next couple of years.
Either way, between 55 and 60 percent of all FBS teams go to the postseason. This is comparable to the percentage of teams that go to the postseason in our country's professional leagues so I'm cool with it.
Now to the games, you may have guessed it but I will not be watching every single bowl game.
Guess I'm getting docked some fan points. Oh well.
Here are the some thoughts of the bowl list:
GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL: At Albuquerque, Washington State (6-6) vs. Colorado State (7-6), 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 (ESPN). Our level of interest is summed by Shaye's question, “Didn't the game used to be called something else?”
BEEF 'O' BRADY BOWL: At St. Petersburg, Fla.
Ohio (7-5) vs. East Carolina (9-3), 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23
(ESPN). This sounds like a not so tasty bowl of beef soup. Also, not the most appetizing match-up.
HAWAII BOWL: At Honolulu. Oregon State (6-6) vs. Boise State (8-4), 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 24 (ESPN). Another thought from Shaye, “I bet the weather's nice there.”
BUFFALO WILD WINGS BOWL: At Tempe, Ariz.
Kansas State (7-5) vs. Michigan (7-5), 10:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 28 (ESPN). Does this one come with wings?
CHICK-FIL-A BOWL: At Atlanta. Texas A&M (8-4) vs. Duke (10-3), 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 (ESPN). Glad Duke is playing well in football for once, but can they hang with an SEC school?
SUGAR BOWL: At New Orleans. Alabama (11-1) vs. Oklahoma (10-2), 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2 (ESPN). Will this year's OU vs. a tough SEC team game have a happier ending? Sooner fans would hope so, but early odds aren't the brightest.
COTTON BOWL: At Arlington, Texas. Missouri (11-2) vs. Oklahoma State (10-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3 (FOX). It's been a while since these teams met when Missouri was still in the Big 12. Last weekend neither team could make big stops late.
BCS National Championship: At Pasadena, Calif. Florida State (13-0) vs. Auburn (12-1), 8:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6
(ESPN). It would have been nice to see two undefeated teams here. But on the flip side, maybe we won't have to see Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs on Sportscenter politicking like it was 2016.